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In Nasu, it is common sense to look for land in winter. This is the second chapter summarizing why local real estate agents say so, and what to watch out for when choosing land.

2. Finding land in winter

土地探しは「冬」が常識0
“Customers who come in winter are serious; customers who come in summer are just browsing.” This is what many local real estate agents in Nasu say.

If you are searching for land, doing it in winter—the harshest season in Nasu—is the right choice.
▼ Winter is the best season to search

“Customers who come in winter are serious; customers who come in summer are just browsing.” Local real estate agents in Nasu often say this. In summer, Nasu looks beautiful almost everywhere, which makes it a poor season for selecting land—everything seems good.
Also, many tourists drop by a real estate office casually while sightseeing and are not very serious about buying land. As a result, agents are not always serious in how they deal with them.

The right answer is to search for land in winter, the harshest season in Nasu.
If you own a vacation house, you will likely want to use it year-round, so whether you can live comfortably in winter is a major point. Keeping that in mind, when you search for land in Nasu, you should generally watch for the points below.

  1. If you strongly want to build a vacation house, it is safer to consult a local architect or builder before searching, and have them help you look for land (or at least advise you). Many real estate agents in Nasu may take advantage of beginners, and there are many cases where people end up buying “bad land” where a vacation house cannot actually be built.

    To avoid that, find a reliable local architect or builder and ask them to look together with the assumption that you will build a house. From their perspective, if the land is too expensive, you won’t have enough budget for the building—so they are likely to advise more reasonably priced land.
    Also, real estate agents are less likely to behave badly when they are dealing with local professionals.
  2. The area above the “Hiroyachi” intersection has a different climate from the area below it. It is colder, and once snow falls, it may not melt for a long time. If you want to use your vacation house in winter too, it is better to search in areas below “Hiroyachi.”

    If you plan to buy land above Hiroyachi and still want winter use, it’s recommended to check the site in January or February before signing. Confirm road icing and snow removal; if those are handled properly, you can feel more secure.
  3. Nasu has many sloped plots. If you build on a slope, be prepared to pay more for foundation work. For example, a foundation that might cost 1,000,000 yen on flat land could become around 3,000,000 yen with a slope of about two meters (depending on the method). Sloped land also brings risks like cliff collapse, landslides, and debris flows during heavy rain.

    Since Nasu has plenty of flat land, it’s naturally recommended to choose flat land over slopes. Even on flat land, you can find many places with great views if you look carefully.
  4. It’s safer to avoid land right next to a river. There was a famous case where a celebrity’s vacation house was washed away by flooding just one month after it was built. Also, cheap land near rivers may have a higher chance of attracting an industrial waste disposal site—so you should be careful.

    If you see many trucks passing frequently on weekday daytime, it may indicate a disposal site nearby. And even if the land looks fine during the day, illegal dumping trucks might gather at night. One way to check is to visit at night and see if there are strange smells.
  5. Look for land where municipal water has already been brought in. Then you can connect water with only the basic contract fee with the town (around 220,000 yen). It’s safer to avoid well water: supply can be unstable, and since Nasu is an alluvial fan area, if an industrial waste site is built upstream in the future, there’s concern that groundwater flow could affect water quality.

    Some subdivided vacation areas use well water and still charge close to 1,000,000 yen as a water-related fee. Water is a critical lifeline, and if you’re told “then we won’t supply water,” you may have no choice but to pay—this risk is frightening.
  6. In subdivided vacation communities, in addition to high water-related fees, you may also pay management fees and neighborhood association dues. If you are searching for land now, it is recommended to look for land outside such vacation subdivisions if possible. There are even cases where, after a long-serving association leader passed away, a “power struggle” over the next position caused major conflict.

    Also, many subdivision developers have later faced financial trouble and sold the entire area to another company—leaving owners anxious about what kind of management will be provided going forward.
  7. If you really like land inside a vacation subdivision and want to buy it, be sure to check in advance whether the operating company is a large, financially stable firm and whether management is solid. For non-major operators, there seem to be many places where management is sloppy but costs keep piling up. If possible, talk directly with two or three residents who live there year-round and ask about management conditions.

    Subdivisions run by reputable major companies can be attractive: the area tends to be well maintained and infrastructure management is strong, so serious trouble (like being deceived) is less likely. However, you should be prepared to pay a premium price (including a “peace-of-mind” premium).
  8. Pay attention to humidity and odors. Nasu has wetlands, so humidity can be an issue. If you find a plot you like, visit multiple times in different seasons to check whether water seeps out. Some dedicated buyers even pour water themselves to see if it drains properly. Also check for smells.

    Because Nasu has many farms, you may smell fertilizer. Once or twice a year may be unavoidable, but constant odors are a problem.
  9. Some areas in Nasu are designated as part of “Nikko National Park.” In a national park, you may need permission even to cut a single tree. If you build a residence in a zone where nature protection is the top priority, you should expect certain restrictions.

    For that reason, it may be safer to avoid land designated as part of “Nikko National Park”, where you cannot freely prune or cut even a garden tree.
  10. Visit local real estate agents in Nasu. If you casually search through major agencies in Tokyo, you likely won’t find good land—and you may just end up paying extra fees.

    When searching for land, you should go to Nasu and talk to local agents. That said, it’s not so easy that you can simply walk into any office and find a great plot. To find good land and good agents, ask local people. Staying at a pension and asking the owner how they searched for land when they started their business can also be a helpful approach.
  11. Choose land that faces a public road at least 4 meters wide, or a designated road. Otherwise, you may not get building permission and cannot build a vacation house. Also, if you plan to borrow money from a financial institution to build, facing such a road is often a strict requirement.

    There are many cases where people are deceived with claims like “It’s a private road now, but we’ll apply for designation later,” and end up buying land where they cannot build. Please be extremely careful.
  12. If possible, find an agent who will accept a purchase contract with a loan contingency clause. Here, “loan contingency” means a special condition like: “If a loan of ○○ yen from ○○ bank (or a public loan agency) cannot be arranged by ○/○, the contract will be canceled and the deposit will be refunded.”

    Even with a loan contingency, you must define the details clearly—or you could be cornered by a bad agent. If you leave the date, financial institution, or amount vague and only say “If the loan can’t be arranged, the contract is canceled and the deposit returned,” you may be told: “You didn’t try every institution, did you? Did you try non-bank lenders?” and you may not be able to cancel smoothly. So be careful.
  13. It’s better to avoid ordering construction directly from the same real estate company that sold you the land. Construction run by real estate companies can involve heavy markups (around 40%), and locally it has become a serious problem as “cut-corner” work.

    A key tip for getting an affordable, high-quality vacation house is: use a local real estate agent for the land, and separately hire a local architect or builder yourself for construction.

土地探しは「冬」が常識1
Inside Nikko National Park. Since it is above “Hiroyachi,” it is very cold. The temperature difference is quite large.
土地探しは「冬」が常識2
Right next to the river.
Won’t the land slowly be eroded and disappear? The agent says “this atmosphere is nice,” but…
土地探しは「冬」が常識3
Sloped land. The foundation work will likely cost more. At the very least, it’s not suitable for barrier-free design.
土地探しは「冬」が常識4
It’s flat land, but behind a restaurant. There is a restaurant’s garbage storage area right in front.

How to read this story

Each page shows one step of building the vacation house in Nasu, such as land search, meetings with the architect, construction, and daily life after completion.
You can start from any part you like, but reading in order may help you understand the full flow more clearly.

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